Work on facilities outside Tokyo for Olympics estimated to cost 43.8 billion yen

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee has estimated the cost of building and remodeling 11 facilities for the 2020 Games in six prefectures outside the capital at approximately 43.8 billion yen, it has been learned.

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games notified the local bodies that host these venues of the estimated costs during a four-party working group meeting between the committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, other relevant local bodies and the national government that began in late January.

The estimated costs of work on stadiums for soccer in Miyagi and Hokkaido are some 2.7 billion yen each, and those of remodeling the Makuhari Messe complex in Chiba for wrestling, fencing and taekwondo come to approximately 7.3 billion yen. Work to remodel four facilities in Saitama Prefecture for golf and basketball and other sports will likely total about 18.7 billion yen. Moreover, the costs of improving two facilities in Kanagawa Prefecture for sailing and other sports are expected to cost around 5.4 billion yen and those of remodeling a bicycle racing venue in Shizuoka Prefecture will be about 6.9 billion yen.

The estimated total costs do not include those for sports to be newly added to the Olympics and Paralympics from the 2020 Games. Sources familiar with the issue say the cost of work at Tsurigasaki beach in Ichinomiya, Chiba Prefecture, for surfing and Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama for baseball and softball events will likely amount to nearly 50 billion yen.

The International Olympic Committee has urged the organizing committee to reduce expenses while local bodies that have experience in hosting large-scale events have also called into question the committee's estimates. As such, the estimated costs could later change.

When Japan was bidding to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, the organizing committee was expected to fully foot the costs of constructing and remodeling facilities for the Games.

As a result of a review of expenses for organizing the Games, the organizing committee showed its estimates, which would require local bodies hosting the venues for the Games to shoulder part of the costs.

However, as the concerned local government urged the organizing committee to stick to the original principle, the four-party working group was consulting over the matter.